FateAllure
by Umino Kouya
Summary: Reiji is an ordinary high schooler who just witnessed his best best friend, Touji, murdered by his Childhood friend, Miki... That event marked the turning point of his life. The new Grail War is about to begin, and now he is the participant!
1. Chapter 1

Fate/Allure

I had a dream, a dream of a girl in a church praying. She was about my height and was wearing a poor, tattered, peasant dress. She had her eyes closed and her hands folded, kneeling before a cross that was hanging over the wall, in the center of the small, rundown church.

She opened her eyes and looked up and said something. I couldn't make out what she said however, once she had muttered those words, she closed her eyes yet again and as soon as she did so, tears came out and rolled down her smooth, pale skin. Then, a sudden gust of wind from a nearby window made her short blond hair wave. The golden hair shined and reflected the sun's rays.

She then stood up and then grabbed a sword that was resting on a pew. The sword itself was finely detailed and decorated. The golden details on the sword and scabbard made a shape of a grape vine, wrapping and closing the sword and scabbard together. The hilt contained a green gem and within the gem was concealed a cross that resembled much like the cross that was decorated on the wall. At the end of the handle contained the mark of a rose, blooming on top of grapevines that ended there.

With that sword in hand turned around and without looking back headed toward the exit of the church, as if determined to face her enemy head on. Even though she knew she was destined to lose. As soon as she grabbed the handle of the door, she stopped and pointed towards the sky with her sword in hand. She then put her arm down then opened the door and stepped out. The light from the open door obstructed my view. All I could see was the rays of light consuming the girl as she looked back, as if she was looking directly at me, and smiled. She then said something yet again, however I was able to make out what she said by the movement of her lips.

See you soon.

Riiiiiiinnnngggg, Riiiinnnnngggg!

I hear an annoying bell ringing right next to my ear. I stretch out my hand toward the sound and—as hard as I can—slam my hand down at the source of the annoyance, as if I was swatting a bug.

Crash!

A sound of something breaking reaches my ear. With that sound, the noise ceases. I yet again attempt to go back to sleep, but then the ringing starts yet again. I get up and look toward where the sound was coming from and see the broken alarm clock that was still making its sound of death.

"…. I broke you…. And yet you have the power to still make that sound…?"

I glance around and find a hammer conveniently lying beside my futon. Without giving it a second thought, I grab the hammer and smash the alarm clock yet again, this time making the clock scatter in millions of tiny metallic pieces.

Success… I have won my battle…! I think to myself as I throw the hammer behind me, making a thud sound as it hit the floor. Now… to get back to what I do best… sleep.

As I thought this to myself, I place the warm blanket around me and lie back down onto my futon and close my heavy eyelids shut, trying to re-enter the calm world known as sleep.

But…

Riiiiiiinnnnnggg!

From the same distance that the battle was fought, the devilish sound can be heard yet again.

"… Wait, how the heck is that possible!" I sit up to look to that direction only to find the same alarm clock standing at the spot where it had once been destroyed. In my confusion, I pick the alarm clock up and examine it. Nothing seemed to have harmed it – not even a scratch has been inflicted. It's as good as new. I look at the back and push the button to stop the alarm. "… Was I dreaming myself breaking the clock…?" As I ask myself this question out loud, I hear a reply from behind me.

"Umm… No, I fixed it, you moron!"

I turn to the direction the voice came from and soon enough I saw something more annoying than the alarm clock…. It is my sister…. Keiko.

"Oh….. It's you Keiko…. How many times do I have to tell you not to enter my room without permission…?"

"Wwwhaaaattt? Is that the attitude you give to someone that came to wake you up?" She asks, practically yelling.

…. How annoying…. I think to myself as I was drifting between sleep and reality. She was wearing her usual white sailor school uniform but with a clip of a green dragonfly, clipped on her red scarf. Her face contains nothing but anger however when she is not in the state of anger, which is practically never, she is cute… Wait… Saying something like that about my own younger sister is weird… Scratch that… She looks… Better than normal girls..? Whatever, you get the general idea. I stare at her and something seems to be off… Oh yeah…

"You should roll your skirt down, Keiko… You look like one of those 'easy' girls." With that comment that I made her face became bright red. She grabs my collar and starts to shake my head around.

"What the- how the heck did you conclude that!" She asks, screaming now.

"…. You're so loud…. If you keep this up, you'll never be able to get a… What do foreigners call them… boyfriends? Just thought I'd let you know…" I say calmly, letting out a yawn in front of her face. This makes her snap.

"I only act like this toward you, you moron!" She screams, shaking my body side to side as hard as she can. "A-and I-I'm n-n-n-not l-l-looking for a b-boyf-f-friend anyw-w-ways!"

Oh boy, she broke…

"I-i-if y-y-you must know! I… I'm pretty popular w-… w-with boys you know!" She says, blushing. Her bad habit when she lies. Well, she is pretty popular with guys however saying that by herself when she doesn't even know if this is a fact or not is probably the reason why she is giving this reaction. In the end, she is trying to lie about a truth…. So… Clueless…

"Sure, you must be very popular with old men, huh?" I say with my eyes of pity. "You poor thing…"

W-what! She is mouthing that but she can't even come to say it… Ok… let's do this.

"It's ok, Keiko." I say with a soft smile, while petting her head. "If no one will have you, I'll marry you."

Wha-! She freezes in place and loosens her hand so that I can be free from her grasp and fell to her knees. Not only is she bright red but it looks as if she is actually thinking about it.

"N-no… We're brothers and sisters… Something like that can't happen…." She starts muttering while placing both her hands on her face to cool it off. "B-but…. I-if there is love…. T-then… maybe? N-no! It's s-still wrong…?"

Keiko is confused, I imagine a pop-up message appear before me. Do you wish to continue? Yes or no. The answer is quite clear…

Y.E.S.

"We can have children too, if it's a boy I'll name them either Saiji or Takashi. If they are girls, I'll name them Kotoko or Keiko." I say, still with my soft smile. "Keiko, so that she may grow up to be as beautiful as her mother."

Keiko's face… I cannot believe that it could be as red as this… Hilarious.

"Wh-w-w-whh—wha-?" Keiko cannot even make a proper sentence. Ok, now for the finishing blow!

"How about we kiss now, to seal the contract?" I say, and as soon as I say that, I wrap my arms around her head, to provide no escape. Then, I bring my face closer and closer to her face. She is shivering and finally closes her eyes, as if she accepts her current situation.

Now is my chance….

I slowly make my way toward her ear. Then whisper,

"Just kidding~" Then blew into her ear. She shivers and falls back onto my futon where I quickly wrap her in it and ran for my life. "Thank you for fixing my alarm clock~~~!"

Within a few minutes she frees herself and I get caught and placed within a punishment… There are things better not knowing in this life… This is, perhaps, one of them…

But it was totally worth it.

"Man... She shows no mercy, huh Reiji?" My friend Touji Shikinori asks as we were making our way to the school. He is wearing a full black school uniform with the hat he got from his great grandfather who once served under the Japanese Navy. He has short, black hair that resembles much like his eyes, always reflecting and not showing much emotion. I, personally, would not be able to even notice his emotion if it wasn't for his mouth. I can only tell his emotion by the way he positions his mouth and the way he starts to speak. He is usually a quiet type around others, however around me he acts more outgoing and sometimes gives a misconception about our friendship… Which is very disturbing to me…

We have been friends since elementary school and have been going to the same school since. Touji and Miki are the only people I can truly consider to be friends because they have been with me for as long as I can even remember. Ever since elementary school, Touji and I walked to school together because our houses were so close by and we always played together. He is the same age as me, 17, and is nearly the same height also. We often get mistaken for being related or being brothers when we walk to school together. The path to the school is a narrow wooden path located on a hill so sharp that if someone was to take the wrong step, it may be his last because of the 50 feet drop that it potentially has.

"Tell me about it… All I did was tease her a little… But she randomly attacks me with… Yeah…" I say as I try to walk straight but was failing due to the numerous aches all occurring on my body. "She needs to get the difference between lies and reality…"

"Yea well, what can you do?" Touji then places his bag on his shoulder. "She is stronger than you right?"

Yes, this is true. I was the first born in our family, so I do not know why. However they have been training her since birth in both magic and self-strength. They actually decided to hand down the essence of magic to Keiko for some reason I don't know. They never explained to me the reason nor do I really know why, because I do have more talent when it comes to magical arts. The only magical art they taught me is self and object manipulation spells, such as enhancing my own body to be able to survive a rapid round of machine gun fires… No, that's over exaggerating it but I can enhance my body well enough that I have the confidence to walk into battle with a 1 to 25 ratio and come out alive... I think..? It is when they have weapons that I may have to decrease the ratio into 1 to 10 because there are limits to how much strain a human body can take even if there are curtain "buffs" placed on it. My family, the Tourai family, is taught under Merem Solomon… He is willing to train them after offering the family treasure, which I don't even know what it is. My family is a well-known treasure hunter, so I am guessing that it was not really a big deal giving up that because they constantly keep adding onto their collection that they keep in our underground vault that they made.

"I seriously don't understand why they train her… Yeah, thanks to that she became tougher than me and became she's the head captain of the Judo club but… I don't know anymore…"

"Oh yeah, isn't your family away again? Where are they this time, India?"

"No, I think somewhere in South Africa… said something about a hidden shrine that held a legendary golden statue or whatever…"

"I see…" He said then took out his pocket watch. The pocket watch has the engraving of the seal of the empire of Japan - probably yet another gift from his great grandfather. He clicks the clock open, and a look of sudden fear reflects across his face.

"Oh no! We only have 10 minutes until the bell rings!"

"… See You later then!" After I have said this I take two big steps forward and jump up, sending me flying over the wooden stairs.

"Enhancement, body durability, 45%," I mutter to myself then, once the ground seems reachable with my feet, I concentrate my mana flow to my foot, giving me the ability to both survive the landing and plant my foot firm on the ground.

"Yet another successful landing!" I say out loud, and then upon saying this I peer back to where Touji is. I can see he is yelling something but I can't make out what he is saying. So, to tell him 'see you there' I point towards the sky with my right hand and make a circular motion – a signal me, Touji and Miki made up. As soon as I see Touji do the same thing, I turn and take off towards the direction of the school. Touji is, perhaps, the only one I told about when it came to magic and family matters. This is probably because I trust him entirely taking into account how long we have known each other.

Our school, in a way, is fairly old. The land in which the building is standing is around 300 years old and the school seems to have predated it. I do not know much about the school, however many weird things have happened in the past, like disappearances and murders, however many seem to have been forgotten that and have moved on with their lives. There are, sometimes, claims of ghosts roaming around the school; however I, personally, never seen any. The most famous one is a spirit of a girl that drowned in the pool some years ago.

As I arrive at the gate, which was closing meaning it was nearly the time that the bell was going to ring, I see a familiar figure and approached her from behind.

"Why hello, young lady," I say as 'gentlemanly' as I can to her. "Do you come here often?"

The girl quickly turns revealing her doll like face. Her eyes are pure brown and her lips, even though she has no make-up on, are bright red. She is wearing the same school uniform as that of Keiko and has her red ribbon tied in a strange bow-like knot. She, for some reason, is wearing long tube socks covering her knees where her skirt is failing to conceal.

In her hair, she is wearing a pink hairclip that I had given her for her birthday a few months ago. The design on the clip is a pink panda-like animal that she has grown to like. Touji, on the other hand, gave her a Japanese military knife. I, even to this day, don't know why he gave her that but she appeared to be happy with it. Perhaps she has a hobby of collecting knives? I am not really curtain.

"O-oh, it's only you Reiji" Miki says with a sigh of relief. "I thought I had to scream for help and yell out 'pervert, pervert' at the top of my voice, which in turn will kill that person socially."

… I would really hate to make her my enemy… I think to myself.

"W-well… a fair warning that hairclips aren't allowed while on school grounds, remember?" I say, trying to hide my nervousness in my voice.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to take it off…" Miki, upon saying this, quickly takes the red clip off and places it within her skirt pocket. "I just really feel restless when I don't have it on."

"W-well… I'm glad you like it…" I say, scratching the back of my head.

"Yeah… Thank you…" She says, then looks down.

"…"

"…"

…. So awkward…. I should say something…. I think to myself.

"Umm…. So… How are you feeling today?" I ask… Man I can feel my face burning up!

"Oh, I feel fine. Is Touji not with you?" She asks, her face slightly blushing.

"I went ahead without him because we were running late."

"Ah, I see…" she mutters, with a slight look of disappointment on her face.

Ah, right. She has a 'thing' for Touji. I think to myself. Before I can say anything else, the bell rings, signaling us to get to class.

"Ah, well, see you later Reiji." Upon saying this, Miki bows and then walks away, leaving me standing there by myself.

I wonder why she is always acting so formal… I think to myself, we're childhood friends… And when we were in middle school she still called me Rei-chan… I wonder what happened.

"Hey, you! Get to class already!" A teacher at the gate yells as he starts to close the gate. "Once I close the gate, you're late!"

"Ah, I'm sorry!" I say then, rush through the gate.

Yet another ordinary and peaceful day.

"Wow, It's pitch black!" I say out loud as I make my way through the path where I was walking with Touji this morning, passing the last lamp post marking the near end of the trail. "I can't believe I was forced to stay this late… Stupid Touji, forcing his own work on me…"

That morning, Touji came into the class late, and the teacher made him grade the tests and clean the classroom all by himself as a punishment. I came to the classroom to help him but he just randomly told me to do it and claimed that he would be right back… but he never returned…

Now that I think about it, Miki had been acting weird also. It seemed as if she was trying to avoid both me and Touji the whole entire day. She didn't come eat with us during lunch either, like how she usually does.

However, I could care less about that right now…

"Next time I see him… I'll get him… I'll make him pay…" I say out loud, vowing to the moon and the heavens to take my revenge. Then suddenly I hear a splash in the direction that I had come from.

"Huh?"

I turn my head, looking toward the direction that the strange sound came from, and can only see darkness; however, I can make out a splashing sound in that direction.

Splash… Splash… Splash…

The sound….it's getting louder…

"Hello…? Is anyone there?" I ask out loud in that direction, cupping my hands around my mouth to project my voice to that distance, however there is no reply.

… This is creepy… Should I just walk away…? Before I could think anymore, a ghostly figure appears out of the distance.

"Umm… Hello…?" I ask it again but in a more quiet voice.

"…"

There is no reply is coming from the person, but I can see the white figure approaching. As the figure approaches, I can make out the figure of what looks like a female figure. As the figure steps closer and closer into the light, the person starts to look like someone familiar.

It's Miki, dressed in her usual school uniform.

"Oh, it's you Miki." I say, letting out a sigh of relief. "Don't scare me like-…"

I stop myself as I come to a realization of something odd in her hands. She is holding a knife in her right hand. I can't make out much of the knife in her hand, however something much more disturbing is in her other hand.

It is a human head.

I can't stop my body from trembling. It feels as if all of the warmth of my body is getting sucked out. Not only this but as she approaches more and more towards the light, I become aware of something even more disturbing.

It is Touji's head.

"… A-… ah…?" are the only things I can make out… I'm at a total loss of words… combination of terror and confusion is overcoming and taking over every part of my body.

Move… move…!

I try to command my body to move however my body refuses to move.

I'm going to be killed… I'm going to be killed I'm going to be killed I'm going to be killed I'm going to be killed I'm going to be killed I'm going to be killed I'm going to be killed I'm going to be killed I'm going to be killed I'm going to be killed! Every part of my body is screaming this… but it still refuses to move.

Or more accurately… it can't move.

"B-… binding… magic…?" I manage out as I struggle to move.

"Oh, you know this magic?" She says then smiles at me."Then, that means that you're a magician too. Am I right?'

She takes another step forward. As she does, the blood drips from Touji's neck making a splash sound. The very sound that I heard before.

"Hehe, You're shaking. What's the matter?" She asks me in a soft and caring voice. "I'm not planning to do anything to you. Yet." She adds under her breath as she takes yet another step closer to me. She continues to get closer and closer toward me.

"Oh, and Rei-kun look." Miki says as she lifts Touji's head to her chest and makes it look towards me. Under the lamp light I can see his now emotionless face. It appears as if he's sleeping and, for some reason, at peace. "Touji-kun is with us also! Just like old times!"

"Oh, but he's asleep though." After saying this she takes the head and makes it look toward her and forces one of the eyes open. "Wake up, Touji-kun!"

I both can't comprehend her and the current situation I am in.

Has she… Lost her mind? I think to myself as I attempt to move again. She then takes notice to what I'm trying to do and laughs.

"Oh, there is no need trying to escape. There is no way you can escape." She says with a smile, then she suddenly jabs her finger into Touji's right eye socket, making a disgusting sound. "You are at my complete mercy!" She then starts to laugh in hysteria, licking the blood off of her fingers that she stabbed into the eye socket. She then takes another step, making the blood from Touji's head fall onto the ground, making another splash-like sound. I close my eyes in attempt to try to escape the horror. However, the sound keeps dragging me back.

Step… splash… step… splash…

I cannot stop trembling and as the sound gets louder and louder, the trembling intensifies.

Step… splash…

I feel my legs getting weaker and weaker.

Step… splash…

My legs finally give into the stress and the weight of my body and I feel my body fall onto the ground in a sitting manner.

I… won't get away…. Even if I was able to get out of this binding… I think to myself. What… Should I do…? As I wonder this in fear, I realize that the sound has stopped.

I slowly open my eyes and see that there is no one there. Only a trail of blood leading to me on the dirt path remained. I scan my eyes left and right trying to scan for Miki, however she cannot be found. As I come to that realization, I let out a sigh. But…

"Hehe, you're relieved already, Rei-kun? You're so funny."

I hear Miki's voice from the back and as I try to turn my head I feel a sudden heaviness on my body. I look down and see that her arms are around my chest.

"You're always so fast when it comes to drawing up conclusions, Rei-kun" She whispers into my ear as she rests her head onto my shoulder. "Hehe, you're so cute."

Her hand invades my shirt, slicing her nails across my bare skin. I gasp in shock. Why are her nails so sharp?

I, then, feel a sharp pain on my ear followed by a warm, wet sensation.

"How about I take your head too?" Miki asks with her warm and soft voice, but I can smell a hint of iron in her breath. "That way you, Touji, and I will be together just like old times... forever and ever."

As soon as I hear this, I gather up all of the strength I have and cast the enhancement spell on my whole body.

25%... 45%... 65%...!

As soon as my enhancement percentage hits 75%, I, with all my strength, shove Miki away and run as fast as I can in the direction of the house.

"Oh, you want to play tag? Ok! I'll be it! Hahahahaha!" I hear Miki say behind me. As I keep running I look back and see that Miki is already on her feet and is walking towards the direction I am running. I turn to face the front and run as fast as I can to the safest place in this town.

My house.

"Haa… Haa… I'm… Finally home…." I manage to say out loud in between my gasping for air as I enter the entrance of the house, turning on the light of the entrance in order to see. My house is a traditional Japanese style house that was made nearly the same time this town was established so it is, in a way, run down. The house is only a one story. However, there is the underground safe that my father made as a safe in order to keep his new found treasures. There are 5 guest rooms and 1 master bedroom, 2 of the guest rooms my sister and I are occupying and the rest of the rooms are empty, with the exception of the master bedroom that is occupied by my father, who is, of course, away.

I quickly close and lock the door behind me, enhancing the door and the lock at 100% for fortification. Then I quickly make my way through the hallway to the living room, where Keiko is usually hanging around either watching T.V. or doing her homework.

I have to tell her what I saw today so she can help me! I think to myself and I rush into the living room, expecting to see my sister sitting on the couch that is placed near the plasma T.V. that we have on the corner of the room, laughing her butt off at her favorite sitcom that is always on during this time, however…

She isn't here…

"Wh-why… Is she not here…?" I ask myself out loud then notice a note on the dining table located close to the kitchen that is connected to the living room.

The note says this:

Hey, Reiji!

I'm going to sleep over at my friends' house so I did make food, knowing that you are too stupid to even make any for yourself. I will go to school straight from my friend's place so don't expect me to wake you up.

Keiko

"This… Is bad…." I say out loud as I hold the note in my hand, trying to control my trembling.

All I know is enhancement magic… I don't know any offensive magic that can go against anyone that has magical knowledge. I think to myself, then I realize I can call Keiko on her cellphone. I'm so stupid! Why didn't I think of that earlier?

I reach for the home phone located on the wall of the entrance of the living room and dial Keiko's number.

Ring ring…

I can hear a sound in the distance. She forgot her cellphone.

"… You got to be kidding me…" I say to myself out loud then slam the phone back onto the charger. Then, pick it up again to call the police, but suddenly the lights in the house turn off, making the phone useless.

She's here!

I quickly pull out my own grey cellphone, one of those free-after-registering ones, and dial the same number… but…

Buzzzzzzzzz…..

The signal is being blocked!

In panic, I look around myself and try to find something that may be used as defense. There are only kitchen knives and they're useless against a ranged magician, assuming she is one from the long range binding spell she casted on me earlier. I realize there is only one place that can really give me a protective weapon.

The underground vault that my father made.

If I remember correctly, he placed a charm on it so that magic cannot be used on it and the only key can be used to open it, making it the safest place in the house. My father entrusted me with the key because he assumed that Keiko would have the ability to fight off the people by herself whereas I am more vulnerable.

Alright… I have to get in there.

As soon as I decide this, I quickly make my way toward the door that is located in the kitchen, hidden under the mat near the sink. The door itself has 15 different magical engravings on it and the key hole is located in the center of the black, metallic door. I quickly take out my keys from my left pocket, the key itself is an unusual shape that resembles that of a European sword that can has 3 blades that form into a key that points in 3 different directions.

I quickly place the key into the hole then suddenly a loud sound of a shattering glass comes from the hallway.

"I know you're here, Rei-kun~. Come out~~~"

I can hear Miki's voice in the distance. Out of horror I quickly force my trembling hand to turn the key, making a click sound. I attempt to lift the door up however the door is too heavy to even lift. I start to panic as I hear Miki's footsteps drawing closer and closer.

I use my enhancement magic on my arms in order to give my body enough strength to lift the door. As the door slowly lifts up, I hear the door of the living room slowly open. I look toward that direction and see Miki standing there with a wide smile on her face.

"I found you!" She says with a wide smile on her face. Then starts to walk toward my direction, letting her head bob the direction her foot landed. Her body was covered in blood and was holding a knife-like object in her hand. The object is red and the gold plating of a wind-like symbol is apparent even from the distance.

I open the door and quickly jump down into the vault letting the weight of the door close it naturally. The drop into the vault is 2 feet and it was built to withstand a nuclear missile. Even if the house above was to be burned down or was destroyed, the vault will go unharmed. The vault itself is as big as the house above, filled with treasures that my father had obtained over the years. The vault itself is made entirely of something like a hallway, it is composed of 10 rooms and they are all filled with treasures in respect to their rarity and their value. The most valuable is placed out at the end of the hallway. It is the sword that is rumored that Joan of Arc had wielded:

Sword of Feirbois

I land flat on my feet and quickly make my way through the hallway to the sword, the only thing in this vault that can provide some protection. The sword is cased in a bullet proof glass that needs a special key in order to open, however I, when I was a child, made a copy of the key secretly by stealing it from my father. I keep the key with me every day for "protective purposes," so as a kid, I can bring it out when I want to show off. Around the case, there is a magical circle that I have never seen before and have not been able to find out much about it since.

I dash to the case and jab the key into the key hole and open the case pulling out the sword that I saw in the dream I had. The sword itself resembles the sword in my dream but the sword is all covered in rust other than the silver and gold handle, which was covered by tarnish and dullness.

I try to pull the blade out of the scabbard however the rust from the blade had made it impossible for me to even pull out.

If I force it… it will break…

"Crap!" I yell out of frustration, then, out of stress, slam the sword down on the ground. I fall down on my knees and let my head down. I finally understand that there is no way I can survive nor escape. But, there is a certain part of me that, even knowing how impossible it was to escape, wants to live. I guess all human beings have that.

Crash!

The sound of the entrance of the vault being attacked is echoing though this empty hall full of treasures. All this wealth and all this fame that my father had gained but, in the end, will not help me in this situation. Not even this once great sword, lying helplessly on the ground, all rusted and tarnished.

Crash!

The sound is getting louder… It must mean that the door is starting to give way. Even if there are seals protecting it, there are, in the end, limits to what things of this world can withhold. There is no way that a door like this has the strength of withstanding multiple nuclear bombs even if it is built to withstand it. There is no material strong enough to do that.

Boom!

The door finally gives way and as the heavy, metallic door falls down, debris falls along with it, making it hard to see what is happening.

Well, if I am going down… Mind as well put up a fight… I thought to myself, Touji… I guess I'll be seeing you soon…

I get up, my legs and my body feels heavy but I force my body to move. I pick up the old sword that I had thrown down onto the ground, and turn toward the entrance of the vault to see that Miki had just jumped down from the opening that she had made.

"Hehehe… Are you done running?" She asks as she straightens herself up, patting down debris on her blood stained shirt and skirt. I place two hands on the handle of the sword and points it toward the enemy (Miki). She laughs as though she has lost it, "You think you can beat me with some old sword like that? Hahahahahaha!"

She suddenly disappears then reappears right in front of me. There is a sharp, excruciating pain near my abdomen area. My whole body starts to tremble as I look down and see that her knife has stabbed into my stomach. I quickly shove her away and place my hand over the wound in order to slow the bleeding.

"Hehehe… See?" Miki says as she takes her knife and licks my blood off of it, "There is no way you can win."

"Heh… Yeah, probably…" But, I say, "But… I c-can… Still… try…!"

I say this and concentrate all of my remaining power into enhancing my wound, making it stop bleeding, and the sword.

25%... 45%... 67%... 85%...

"Hahaha! Sure you can try!" As Miki says this, she, yet again, disappears from my viewpoint and appears right in front of me, making a stabbing motion, this time aimed at my head, "Good bye!"

95%... 100%!

As soon as I hit the 100% mark, the magical circle that is engraved around me starts to glow. Miki, once she notices, she quickly stops her attack and jumps back away from the range of the magical binding. The sword starts to glow and suddenly, and with a great ray of radiant light, a girl appears in front of me. She was the girl from my dream, except she was wearing a headband-like metallic helmet, breastplates, and a tasset over her royal blue dress. Over all of the armor and dress, she is wearing a blue matching cape that has a pattern of a Christian cross near the bottom it.

"Who are you, are you the one that summoned me?" She asks in an authoritative, yet gentle voice, "I am assuming you are my master for this war?"

Upon saying this she kneels down and bows her head down.

"I am at your service, my master."

"Ah… ah..?" Out of confusion, I cannot say anything.

"What is wrong, my master?" She asks, then realizes the wound on my stomach, "Wha- Who has done this to you?" She turns and faces toward Miki who was standing there. She starts to chuckle.

"He… hehehe… So you're the last master, Rei-kun?" She asks, then she bursts out into laughter, "This is great! I get to eliminate more competition, 2 in one day? This day can't get any better!"

She continues to laugh, holding her stomach with both hands.

"Master… I am afraid our introduction has to wait." The girl from my dream says, then turns to face me and gently takes the sword with her left hand, "Do not worry, master, I will see to it that she will not lay a finger on you."

After she had said this with a smile, she turns around to face Miki then holds out the sword with her left hand, closing her eyes. Then, she quickly pulls the blade out, revealing the blade and sword itself as it is new. The rust and taint is quickly fading away with each passing second.

"Oh, so you're Saber, huh?" Miki asks with a great big smile on her face, she then raises her right hand up, revealing a tattoo of a weird symbol on it, and snaps her finger. As soon as she did this, a man with long hair wearing a black kimono appears behind her. The man has his hair in a pigtail in the back and is holding a great big lance in his right hand, decorated in red jewels and gold designs for its tip. He has his eyes closed and has his arms down at his side.

"This is Lancer, my servant." She says, pointing at him with her hand flat out below her waist, "he is too nice, he refused to chase you when you were running away." Upon saying this she kicks his right leg. The samurai shows no change in emotion at this action.

"Whatever… Just go and kill him." She says extending her hand as if she is reaching at my neck, "Bring me his head."

The samurai is silent but takes a step and opens his eyes.

"I do not have any reasons or past grudges against you, however, this is my master's orders." He says in a non-wavering manner, "I have no option but to comply."

The samurai then bows, then takes a leaning stance, pointing his lance at the girl, then at me, "I, Honda Tadakatsu, will engage this fight." Upon saying this he then lunges toward the girl and attempts to stab at her stomach but she quickly blocks it with her sword. He then jumps back and lunges to make a second attack that she also blocks.

Did he just say… Honda Tadakatsu…? I think to myself as I watch helplessly watch the 2 people fight… He is dead! How could someone that died hundreds of years ago be here!

The samurai that claimed to be Honda Tadakatsu, suddenly jumps away from the girl and makes another lance appear out of thin air. The tip, this time, was a long sword and the handle is made of wood but is painted in blue. He takes ahold of the lance with his left, free, hand and makes a stance with two lances, one he made at her, the other pointing towards the ground. He then closes his eyes and starts to spin around.

The girl suddenly turns to me and tackles me down. As we were falling I catch sight of something flying above me, and it cut through the bulletproof case, as if it was made of paper. The pieces fall down into the ground one nearly landing on me and one hitting her head, making her unconscious.

"Oh, is that all?" Miki asks in a bored tone of voice, I look toward the direction her voice came from, "Well, then let us end-" Before she can finish her sentence, she suddenly became wide eyed.

"Lancer, we need to get out of here!" She says in a quite frantic manner, "we will not stand a chance against the master that is nearby!" Lancer quickly makes the lance that he materialized disappear.

"Your life was saved, Rei-kun." Miki says, trying to sound calm, however the trembling in her voice gives way at her nervousness, "but next time, you won't be this lucky."

Upon saying this, the person who claimed to be Honda Tadakatsu walks toward the entrance and jumps out. After a few seconds, Miki climbs up.

"We're…. saved….?" I manage to say as I try to get up, however I cannot lift the overall weight of mine and the girl's. I slowly feel my consciousness slipping away, probably due to the loss of blood and fatigue placed on the body. I feel the weight of the girl on top of me shift as I feel my consciousness slipping away.

I suddenly hear the girl on top of me coughing, I guess she has regained consciousness.

"Master! Are you alright? Master!" She yells in between her coughs and her shaking me back and forth. Before I can say anything that can assure her that I am fine, I finally lose consciousness. While in the process of losing it, I started to realize how weak I truly was… making me wish that I was stronger.

Man… am I hopeless…

- End of First Day -


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Yet another dream…

This time, I see the girl engulfed in fire… tied up on a pole with a rope, her body and her hands tied up. I am a part of the crowd that is around the sight.

I see her looking up, as if she is chanting something. Screaming, yelling at the top of her voice… however my vision is impaired, everything is too foggy to make out what her lips are mouthing.

I try to move toward her but cannot even move my body. I am forced to stand there watching her as the fire is making its way onto the girl's cloths.

"Someone save her!" I manage to yell out, however the people around me pay no attention… or it is more like they can't hear me. However, the girl looks toward the direction that I am standing. I can see that she is terrified. So terrified that she is crying. But…

She looks at me with an expression of relief and smiles at me, her tear rolling down her face as she did so. She then closes her eyes as if she is accepting her fate. I try to yell for help again, but then everything becomes white.

I open my eyes, out of breath, I see my usual ceiling that I have grown accustom to seeing. There is nothing out of the ordinary, other than the light being on… I reach for my clock, that Keiko fixed, and once I felt it, I bring it close to my face so I can make out what time it was.

2:35, AM probably.

I set the clock down next to my pillow and try to calm myself. It is ok… It was just a dream… I tell myself in my head, there is nothing to be so afraid of...

"Ah, master. I see that you have awoken."

A strange female voice comes from the entrance of the room. I look toward the direction the door is and I see the same girl from the dream standing there, but this time she isn't wearing any armor, but instead just the blue one piece that I saw she was wearing in the dream I had moments ago.

"Wait what are you- Oww!"

"Please don't rush yourself, master, I was able to stop the bleeding and patch up the wounds in a rush. So if you move around too much, the wound might open again." She says as she walks into the room, closing the door behind her. She walks and sits down right next me, setting down the pan of water beside her. As I am watching her, I remember what had happened earlier.

"I see…. So that wasn't a dream..." I mutter under my breath and I turn to her, "Who… are you…?" I ask as I slowly turn my head toward her, she is placing a towel on the water and squeezing it to drain the excess water.

"I am your servant in this Holy Grail War, sir." She says as she uses the cold wet towel on my face to wipe off the sweat.

"Holy… War…?"

"Yes," she answers as she places the towel back into the pan and squeezes it again. She, this time, folds it in a rectangle and places it on my forehead. The cold towel feels nice; I guess I have a fever.

"It is a war that happens every 60 years against other magicians until all servants are gone, a battle to the death, if you will." She explains, "The last one standing gains the grail and gets a wish granted for the winner, both the servant and the master."

"I… don't understand this…" I say, lifting myself up, ignoring the sharp pain in the stomach. "Why do magicians have to fight to the death for something as lousy as that!"

"C-calm down, master." She says with a worried expression on her face, using her hands to stop me from getting onto my feet.

"How many people are going to die just because someone wants a wish? So stupid!" I say out loud and stand up. But the pain is too intense that I have to hold onto the wound, forcing me to sit back down.

"Ma-master… Please do not push yourself, if you die now, it will be the end of both of us." She says as she helps me down onto the bed.

After a few minutes, I'm able to calm down.

"Master, it seems as if you do not know the rules or anything of this war, so I will explain to you." She says, making sure that I am listening, "yes, there are 7 classes and each one of them have a master, or magician, that commands them."

"Seven… There was that many..?"

"Well a few come to this city just to compete in this war so it is possible that many from different parts of the word." She answers, "The classes are made up of Saber, Berserker, Caster, Lancer, Archer, Assassin, and Rider."

"And you said you are a servant?" I ask and as a reply she nods her head, "if so then what class are you? And what are the true identities of the classes?"

"Well, I am a Saber and as for the identities of each individual class, I am uncertain…" She says and after she apologizes for her lack of knowledge she continues with her explanation, "Finding the identities of the classes is also a part of the war, so we all call each other by our classes in order to keep ourselves from getting known our weaknesses."

"How does your identity link to your weakness?"

"We are people whom the future generations calls 'heroes'… If I remember correctly." Saber answers, trying to recall. "And our way of death and how we lived may hint at our weakness."

"I see… Wait so you are a hero?" I ask in amazement, "Who are you?"

"Well, I would rather not reveal however if you really want to know…"

"Oh, if you don't want to that's fine. I was just curious that's all." I say, rushing an answer as I saw the question was making her uncomfortable.

"No, it is fine, master. However it is, I feel, more better if I do not reveal my identity until later on in the battle." She says answering sincerely. "My knowledge about the war comes to an end here, master. However if you wish further information, I think it would be wise to go to the church."

Upon saying this she hands me what appears to be an old book. I open it at a random page to see a drawing of a man holding a lance with a caption that reads "Lancer" in the text of magic, Latin, on one page and on the other shows a picture of the samurai that attacked us earlier that night. It shows a graph and a few texts also in Latin.

"What… is this?" I ask her as I read all the information about the Lancer. The book itself held all the information about the Lancer. The weapon he possessed, his life, his bio, his statistics on strength, and even his way of death. However it lacked one key thing that I was looking for.

It was lacking the facts on his weakness.

"It's a sacred book that shows the stats and information about the servants and the masters that you have met." She explains, "The information is limited but it does help, after all, we will need all the help we can get."

"Is there any way… to 'get out' of this war…?" I ask, hoping find a way out of this pointless bloodshed.

"My past master asked the church the same thing, and he did 'quit'." However, she adds, "My master suddenly changed."

"Oh, so that means that even if I was to quit, you still have the chance for getting your wish right?" I say with a relief when I found out that my dropping out will not affect her chance of winning.

"Yes, you are right, however…"

"No that's great! Let's go to the church right now!" Upon saying this, I try to force myself up, but…

"Master, you do not know what you are saying. If you were to terminate your contract, I would not be able to protect you." And, she adds, "When a contract gets terminated, I am supposed to… 'disappear.' However, instead my master just changed…"

"That means…?"

"The only way a contract is transferred is if one is to 'take' the magical mark…" She says in a low voice. "That means to physically detach it from the body and attach to another."

"So… that means…" I look at my arm; I had a burned-on like symbol on my right hand. "They will cut it off?"

"I do not know…" She answers in a dark voice, but not showing much emotion on her face, looking down. "I also do not know what happened to him either; he may be alive and well. In the end, as a knight, to run away from a fight is already a dishonorable thing.

"Whatever happened to him, I am sure he deserved it. All is under fate and under the judgment of God."

Her statement made me shiver. She is warning me… but in this kind of manner…

"I… see… Then escaping is not an option…"

"Yes, there is no way… I would rather take my chances in this war than take a chance in something that seems to guarantee a definite death…"

"I guess there is no way I can even consider backing out now…" I say out loud, I look toward Saber and see that she did show a slight expression of relief on her face.

In the end, I have to find out why Miki did what she did and attacked me… and why she killed Touji… We all grew up together… so why?

I look back down onto the book handed to me and turn to the next page, only to find blank pages other than that Lancer page. I look at the last page, and there was a written note on it. It is written in a language I have never seen, almost as if it is made up. But I can make out something that I couldn't believe.

My father's signature.

Why is something like that on here?

"Where… did you find this…?" I ask, trying to make sense out of the situation.

"I got it from what I believe is the library in the underground cellar where you had summoned me," Saber answers, "and it seems that my powers are limited for a reason I cannot understand."

"That is the reason why I lost in the previous fight, master," she adds, closing her eyes, looking as if she is also puzzled at why her previous statement was so.

I think back to how that event happened. I enhanced the sword in attempt to fight and all of a sudden, the engravings on the floor started to glow, and then she appeared. I guess the engravings were a part of the summoning magic and the trigger was my enhancement magic. But there are things that still do not make sense; like why Miki killed Touji and attacked me, or why there are such engravings on the floor of the vault. Could it be that my father had planned for this? Was he planning to take part in this 'war between magicians'? So many questions… so little answers…

All I can make out of this current situation is that I am now a 'player' in this war, and now my life is at risk. There is no way I can drop out because it may kill me. Miki is also a 'player' in this war and she is trying to kill me along with many other magicians that I have not known or even heard of. The situation is not looking so well for me because my knowledge on magic is limited to only enhancement magic… I do know of other magic however I only learned how to perform that specific magic. I also know that Miki can use binding magic so she is well acquainted with magic and she knows how to execute it without even chanting any spells. I am required to at least think up the percentages of enhancements if not saying it out loud. She is also a master of a lancer class servant… who claimed to be Honda Tadakatsu, a noble samurai that was considered one of the best samurai in Eastern Japan. It was also noted that he was never majorly wounded in battle… He was also one of the Tokugawa Four Heavenly Kings… He is referred to as…

The Warrior Whom Surpassed Death Itself.

If I remember correctly… He weilded one of the 3 legendary lances of Japan, the Tonbogiri. He also made another lance appear… a long sword-like lance… it resembled the other.

Those are the only things I remember from the lessons in class from my school… Touji was extremely obsessed with feudal Japan so if he was here I could probably be able to understand how I may be able to go up against something like him…but he is not here… or more accurately, I will never be able to meet him again. First, if I am even going to consider fighting in this so called 'war' I'll need to come up with some sort of plan to go against them. I look to Saber; she is still sitting there with her eyes closed.

"Hey, Saber," I say to her but I get no response. I take my arm out from under the blanket and softly tap her lap and she quietly falls onto the ground. She is asleep. I sigh and look around the room to see a spare fur blanket that I had left out while I was doing my laundry the other day, neatly folded and conveniently placed near my bed. I slowly get up carefully, not to place any strains on my wound, and grab the blanket, spreading it out. My wound slightly hurt at this action but I ignore it and spread the blanket over her.

Once doing this, I slowly make my way to the string dangling from the ceiling in the middle of my room that is connected to my light and pull it, turning off the light. I then get into my bed, trying to keep the needless motion to a minimum. I then shut my eyes and welcome the fast approaching slumber that was creeping up on me as I pondered about my current situation, deciding that it would be best to think about it more in the morning.

"Did you feel that, master?" A girl, whom appears to be 6 to 7 years old, asks beside me in her monotone way.

The girl is in a full black leather shirt, with a red orb-like gem on her right shoulder with metallic vein-like stems sprouting out of it, imbedded on the shirt, and a long black cloth skirt all ripped up from the left side down in a sharp diagonal shape which is kept up by her belt. On the belt, there is a small metallic black box attached to it. The girl's hair is as long as her waist and she has a ponytail on the right side of her head. She has her hair down in a manner that covers her left eye however has her blue right eye revealed for vision. Her face is as white as snow and had a face as perfect as a doll.

"Y-yes, but I want avoid any unnecessary fighting so lets not make any movements until we can gather enough information on the other masters." I say to her in response, making an excuse to not fight, and look toward the city below. The city lights below glow and look beautiful. I wish I had brought my camera to take a picture.

"Master, we can't wait too long to make our move either." She says as she is looking down, "You must understand, master, as an assassin class, we need to act swiftly and accordingly."

"I-I understand that, Sarah." I reply nervously, looking at her. Her emotion never changes; I have yet to see her smile even though it has been 2 months I have been with her. I walk toward her and pet her head softly. This is the only way I can get any expression out of her, she only shows a little comfort when I do this. I cannot believe a girl this age is an assassin class servant. I have seen her fighting capabilities… I am glad she is my servant but I feel sorry for her that she has such a weak master like me.

"Hey, you! What are you doing here!"

A voice from behind, I look and see a bright light. I can make out a figure of a man… a guard (?).

Oh, no! We've been found!

"Sarah! L-lets get out of here!" I quickly turn to the direction Sarah is supposed to be standing to only find that she was gone. "Wha-?"

I look around in search of her but…

"Guhaaaah!"

I look toward the direction the sound came from to see Sarah standing where the guard (?) once stood, finding that there is no one there.

"S-Sarah, w-where did you-" Before I can finish, something rolls toward me and hits my foot. It is too dark to see what it is so I take out my phone and use the light to see what it is.

It was a human head.

"Waaaaaaaaa!" I yell out to have my mouth blocked by Sarah, who just quickly came to me, with her hand and her black leather glove.

"Master, please be quiet… We do not want any other 'unwanted guests'," Sarah says, then as soon as she says this, she lets go of my mouth.

"Ahh… Waa…?" I manage out as I fall onto the ground. My legs feel too weak to even stand.

"You cannot stand, master? Here, let me help you." She says then pulls out a string from her black box and controls it to come to me. The strings lift me up, above her. I can't even bring myself to say anything. I am too afraid to say anything for that matter… but…

"H-hey… Sarah…?" I manage out when Sarah started to walk, which in turn made me, lifted by the string, drift after her.

"Yes, my master?" She answers without looking back or slowing her pace.

"Please… don't go around doing needless killings…" I say as I am dangling from her strings. She stops her legs.

"Is… that an order…?" She asks in her non-changing, monotone way.

"No… I'm just asking you…" I say, "… Please…?"

She is silent, but after a few moments of silence, she spoke.

"Your word is law, my master."

Upon saying this, she continues to walk toward the exit. All I can do now is hope for the best… I look back toward the head that still remains on the ground behind us. The intense expression of pain is on the face, the blood dripping out of the mouth, eyes, and the neck. The pool of blood is forming where the head lay. I clasp my hands tightly against my mouth in order to keep the contents of my stomach from coming out.

I cannot understand how a little girl like her can do something like this without any feeling of remorse. I just can't understand.

Sarah continues to walk toward the exit and when she reaches it, she lowers the string to let me down and opens the door. By this time I have overcome the want to vomit and look back again.

The man was probably still in his 20s… he was close to my age… 18… I am sorry, sir. Please forgive her… and forgive me for not being strong enough to save you.

"Let us hurry, master." Sarah says from the door. I take a final look at the scene again before following her out.

"I'm sorry…" I mutter under my breath.

I'm sorry…


	3. Chapter 3

A ray of light from the window of my room hit my face, forcing me out of my sleep. I hear the birds chirping as I get up. My wound seems to have healed overnight due to my enhancement ability that always happens to be active while I am sleeping. My father said that it was a gift that my body is capable of even doing something like that on its own. I look at the direction Saber where was asleep before to see that she is not there. I get out of my bed and realize that I am still in my uniform. I decide to change, so I get some fresh clothes out of my drawer and start to undress.

"Master, are you awake?" Saber asks as she walks into the room without knocking. By this time I am fully naked.

…..

"I am truly sorry, master… now, if you will excuse me…" As soon as Saber says this, she takes a bow and leaves the room, closing the door behind her, leaving a feeling of extreme awkwardness.

… So confused right now… either way, I have to continue changing or I will catch a cold…

I quickly go back to changing into my clothes. When I came to a realization that I had skipped school without even informing the school, I quickly run out of my room and dash though the hallway, passing Saber. I quickly enter into the kitchen and pick up the phone when I realize the time. It is 7:20 PM. After realizing this, I slowly place the phone back.

"What is it, master?" Saber asks, walking into the living room from the door I had entered from.

"Oh I was just going to call my school to let them know I would not be able to make it today… but it doesn't matter anymore." I answer her, and then turn to her. She quickly closes her eyes and turns the other way. I look around to see why she turned away, to see nothing out of the ordinary.

"Well… master… before doing anything, I would like to tell you one thing…" Saber says as she turns her back on me and leaves the room. "You should really put on some form of clothing before you do any activity."

Huh?

I look down to see that I am only wearing my boxers… The front was... open…

… I'm sorry… on so many different levels…

"So I guess I skipped out on school today… man… once Keiko hears this she is going to kill me…" I sigh and take another scoop of rice with my chopsticks. I am now fully dressed and just sitting at the table to eat my lunch/dinner; rice, grilled fish, miso soup, and some seasoned radishes. Sitting in front of me is Saber – she is watching me eat. Her eyes follow every motion I make to the contents I put into my mouth… I wonder if she is hungry…

"Hey, Saber, are you hungry?" I ask, taking another scoop of rice and some fish, which I see her watch the food being delivered into my mouth. She then shakes her head, as if she was hypnotized and she is trying to shake it out of her head.

"N-no it is fine, master. I am not very hungry…" She replies, shaking her head and reaching out her hands as if she is trying to block the sight of the food from her view. "And besides… a servant such as myself should not be dining with someone like you, master."

Saber, then, opens her mouth to add more things however a strange sound coming from her stomach interrupts her.

….

Saber puts her head down; I can see that her face is slightly red.

"Ummm… I'll get another bowl for you then…" I say as I lay my chopsticks down on my rice bowl and get up. I hear a faint 'Thank you…' from my back as I walk over to my kitchen to fetch the bowl.

I reach the kitchen and see the hole where the heavy metal door was that leads to the underground vault. The opening is still open and I can see traces of scratching all around the hole.

"Ahh, I picked up all the broken glass from the place where the enemy master broke in." Saber says as she sees me stop in front of the opening, "I also went down into the vault and cleaned up the debris that was in there."

"Thank you." I say then walk toward the counter to take out the bowl that was inside the cupboard. I then open the lid of the rice cooker and scoop the rice that was in it and grab the chopsticks that were placed on the white towel, showing that it was recently washed, and walk over to the table. I place the bowl full of rice and the chopsticks in front of Saber and walk back to where I was sitting.

I sit back down onto the chair and look toward Saber to see she is looking at the chopsticks with confused look on her face.

"Oh, do you not know how to use chopsticks?" I ask then attempt to get back up again to go get her a fork but,

"N-no, there is no need to get up master! I know how to use these so called 'chip sticks'." She says then takes each one of the sticks with each individual hand in a fist and starts to try to pick up each grain carefully by clasping them together.

I can see her struggling, her overall focus and all of the trembling she is doing… not only that but that is not how you hold chopsticks. She is starting to sweat as she is struggling to get the clump, what is now just a single grain, to her mouth. The grains falls back down into the bowl in which she tries to pick up again, in which falls back down again.

Pick up

Drop

Pick up

Drop

Finally, with many attempts, she manages to get the clump she was aiming for into her mouth. She has an expression of accomplishment on her face. She looks up and becomes bright red.

"Wh-what are you smiling at, master?" Saber asks with great expression of embarrassment on her face.

Huh? I look down at the faint reflection that can be seen from the table. I am not only smiling but I am on the verge of all out laughter.

"Oh, sorry, it's just... Hahahahahahhahahahaha!" I guess I couldn't hold it in any longer and just burst out into an all-out laughter.

"It's not funny master!" I can hear Saber say, trying to yell over my laughter. I look toward her and see that she has slammed her hand down, which in turn made her slam the chopsticks down, hitting the bowl and tipping the bowl over, spilling the contents of the bowl onto the table.

Making me laugh even further.

"… You are mean… master…" Saber says, I can hear her trembling in her voice. I look up and see that she has sat back down and her head is down and her hands appear down by her side, I can also see that she is slightly trembling.

"So-sorry, I-… I can't stop- haha…" I say in between my gasps for air and laughter. The feeling of dread is coming over me but I can't stop laughing.

"It is ok, master." Saber replies and looks up, she has tears in her eyes and she also has a smile on her face. "I am glad that you are feeling ok master. I was worried that you were too hurt from last night's attack." Upon saying this, Saber uses the back of her fist to wipe the tears away.

I guess I made her worry about me… I open my mouth to say something, but then,

"I was worried because you have been acting strange, master." She says, with a smile. "I thought that the wound on your head made you 'strange' but I guess you are alright."

I guess she had concluded that the mishap that happened this morning was 'result' of the possible injury…

"So… you were just doing that to cheer me up, right?" I ask, with a smile.

"Huh? O-of course I was!" She replies quickly.

"So… that means that you know how to use these… 'chip sticks'… right?"

"Yes!"

I get up and grab the bowl in front of her and pick up the spilled rice with my fingers. After I disposed the spilt rice and wiped the table with a piece of cloth, I fill the bowl with the, what is now, the last remaining servings of rice and place it in front of her.

"Ok… Please, show me your 'chip stick' skill." I say in a low voice. I, for some unknown reason, felt as if I had the need to get back at her for assuming something like that… I can see that she is frozen in place, not knowing what to do.

"Ah… Umm…. I am not hungry anymore so… I am fine, master." Saber says, "Now if you will excuse me-"

Before Saber can finish, her stomach growls again.

Hehehe… She is trapped…

"Come on, Saber. It is not good to go without food. A famous samurai said, 'without food, we cannot wage war.' So with that said, it is a necessity that we have you fully ready for battle at any time." I say, forcing Saber to look at me as she sits back down. "Now please, eat."

Saber looks down at the food placed in front of her. I also push the half cut grilled fish toward her, she is starting to sweat.

"Don't be shy, please. Eat."

Saber looks at me, then back down at the food. She then, as if she has determined her fate, she picks up the chopsticks and the bowl. She then looks toward me and uses the chopsticks, holding it in a fist, to scoop the rice to her mouth by bringing the bowl to her mouth.

Huh… I guess you can eat it that way… but… how about the fish? While I am wondering this, she finishes with the rice and grabs the plate of grilled fish and, before I can warn her that there are bones in it, she shoves the whole thing into her mouth and swallows it.

"Umm… there were bones in that fish… are you alright…?" I ask wondering if she was able to swallow it. Once I ask this she looks at me with a smile, a rice grain stuck near her lips. Before I can tell her about it, her face turn blue and starts to cough uncontrollably. I quickly grab the glass of water I had placed for myself and give it to her. She quickly takes it and gulps it down.

"Gah… Gak! Hah… Hah…" Saber falls to the ground, gasping for air.

"Are you… Alright…?" I ask, trying to hold in the laughter.

"Y-yesh… hah… hah…"

"Hehehe… Hahahaha!"

I can't not stop laughing because of her overall… cuteness? But before I knew it, Saber is laughing with me.

I think this is the only time I was able to laugh so hard.

"The church is around here somewhere…" I say out loud as Saber and I make our way through the maze-like neighborhood in search of the building. I decided that it would be beneficial for us to gather as much information about the current war and the information about the past wars as we could. I currently know that my servant, Saber, served in the last war but she lost. She did claim that her last master lost in the final battle between the last remaining masters. She told me that that is all she remembers and she doesn't remember the face of the master or anything about them other than the opponent being an Archer.

"Master, we're here." Saber says as we make our way through the moonlit streets. I look ahead of us to see a marvel church up ahead. The church is more like a cathedral and is huge, the stained glass of a red cross implanted in the front of the entrance. The cross on top of the roof also makes it scream out that it is a church, however the entrance and the wilderness around it is overgrown and not kept. The vines and the grasses look as if it has been uncut for years, making it seem as if the church has been deserted for centuries. Only the fact that the church glasses are not boarded up or broken show that there has been at least someone that has been maintaining it; only the vines and grasses around the church are nicely cut.

I walk toward the church to find that there is a black gate closed in front of it, making it impossible for me to enter unless I climb it. As I approach to the gate I start to realize how high the gate is; approximately 9 feet tall, scratching off the option of climbing over it.

I arrive in front of the gate and see that there is no light or anything lighting the church; it is closed.

"We came all this way for nothing…?" I say out loud as I sit down with my back on the gate, I look to Saber and she shows no change in expression. She only smiles at me, I guess to try to get me at ease. I smile back and place my weight on the gate to find it leaning further and further away from my back, until finally I fell onto my back, hitting my head on the ground.

"Ow!" I quickly get up on my feet and place my hand on my head to rub the place that had hit the ground. I look toward the church to see that the gate has opened. I look towards Saber and see that she is already besides me looking toward the church. She quickly makes her way to the entrance gate before me, but before she goes through the gate she signals me to stay where I am. Confused, I watch Saber step through the gigantic gate to see her disappear from my very eyes.

"What! Saber!" I quickly rush through the gate and run to where she was standing to find her suddenly appear in front of me, making me crash into her and knocking her down. She then, quickly jumps on her feet, knocking me away. I look toward her to see that she is in her full armor, pointing her sword at me. Once she sees that it is me, she quickly puts away her sword.

"Ma-master! What are you doing? I nearly thought you were my enemy..." Saber says then walks over to me to offer me a hand to help me up. I grab ahold of her hand and pull myself up.

"That's my line! You suddenly disappear and then reappear before me… What is your problem?" I ask her, patting the dirt off of my jeans.

"Eh? I was just walking. I did not do anything out of the ordinary, master." Saber answers, a bit of confusion in her voice.

"What are you talking about? I was watching you from there!" I say then, without looking, point toward where I had come from. Saber looks toward that direction, then suddenly her expression changes from confusion to something that of disappointment. I look toward the distance I am pointing to see why her expression suddenly changed. The entrance is gone, but instead, trees and overgrown grass replaced them. "What!"

I quickly rush to one of the trees, where one of the pillars of stone holding the gate was located, and touch one. The tree, what looks to be something like a sakura tree, feels like an ordinary tree. I pluck one of the leaves only to find that it is only an ordinary leaf…

"H-how… is this possible…?" I ask myself as I allow my hand lose its grip on the leaf, causing it to fall on the ground.

"It looks as if we are trapped, Master." Saber says from behind, I turn to her to see that she is still looking away with the same expression on her face. "I suppose it cannot be helped, we have to move forward and reach the church."

Saber quickly turns toward the church but does not start walking, she is just standing there. She then, looks down again, "I am sorry, master." She says with the tone of disappointment in her voice, "It is entirely my fault that we are in this situation."

"Huh?"

"If I had noticed and warned you about the presence of another master and servant possibly being near here… this may never had happened…" Saber says with disgust, "Now we are vulnerable to their attack and ambush… and this is entirely my fault…"

After saying this Saber turns to me, her face is full of regret and sorrow, "I pray that you will be able to forgive me." She says as she kneels down, with her head down.

"N-no it is fine!" I say to her quickly, "This isn't your fault!"

"No, master. This is my fault…" Saber says with her head down still. "If only-"

"No it isn't!" I say, interrupting her sentence. "We both didn't know this kind of trap was set in place! There was no way we could have prevented this either way because we both came to the church to have our questions answered and even if we knew of this danger we would have entered anyway!"

I say all this, most of which I just thought up on the spot, trying to keep Saber from apologizing further.

"Also what is done is done. We can't go back in time in order to change it." I say to her but as soon as I say this to her, she looks up with some annoyance in her face.

"There are things you can change, master. Why do you think we, servants, fight? It is to get our wish granted!" Saber says, nearly yelling. "The grail is the thing that allows us to defy any law placed by our Lord, and we must fight for it!"

I can't say anything. I'm surprised that Saber can say something like that out of pure emotion. Since we met, I have only seen her with not much expression but happiness and worry over me, but now she is fighting for herself. I guess I have drawn a conclusion on something that should not have been done. Yes… I'm always like this, jumping to a conclusion before seeing all the facts. That is my overall flaw… that is the reason why I have very few friends. The only friends I had, Miki and Touji, now one is my enemy and the other is dead. I am technically all alone other than my family due to this.

The reason why this happened is because of an incident that happened in middle school. I accidently concluded that someone liked me, but was mainly treating me out of pity. I confessed to her but of course, not seeing the truth, got rejected. I became a laughing stock of the school because of this. She also had a boyfriend too, a very popular one at that. So he and his friends – practically all of the school – started to pick on me. The only people that stuck with me were Touji and Miki. Thanks to them, I was able to overcome the thoughts of suicide and even murder. I was able to tough it out until middle school ended and was able to start a new life in high school. It was all thanks to them…

But now…

"…."

"… I am sorry, master." Saber says softly, "I was unable to control my emotions…"

"… No… That is fine… Thanks to you… I was able to figure out… what I want to wish for if we… no… WHEN we win," I say, then look directly at her. She, for some reason, looks surprised. "I am determined to win… no matter what the cost is!"

Saber closes her eyes for a moment, then opens them again with a smile on her face, "Yes, let us give our all to achieve our dreams."

After Saber says this she turns and faces the church and starts to walk forward. I look back at the forest that suddenly appeared behind me.

Yes… I want to go back to those times… I want to wish for us…Miki, Touji, and I to be back to our usual life. Before that though… I have to find out why Miki did what she did…

Suddenly the scene gets recreated in my head, Miki standing before me holding Touji's head… her devilish looking smile as she made her way toward me... the way she looked when she tried to stab me.

I shake those thoughts out of my head. I can't worry about what happened… I need to focus on what I can do now… at this moment! I think to myself then turn my back to the forest and run toward Saber, quickly catching up with her.

I will survive through this… and I will find out the reason why she killed Touji… even if it will be the last thing I do.

"Oh looks like we have a visitor, Kuzuha." A man in a black coat says, fixing his collar then brushing his short, spiky black hair back making it stick up a little bit more. He then sticks his hand into his coat pocket to pull out a gold cross necklace, which he puts on without any delay.

Other than the man, a woman wearing a black hooded robe is standing beside him. The robe hides everything but her long brown hair that is left down in the front. She is shorter than the man standing beside her. She looks down the window that the man was looking through.

"Ah, that boy is that girl's friend, master." The brown haired woman says in a calm voice.

"Ahh, I see." The man says in reply to her comment, showing a hint of amusement in his voice. "I guess all the pieces for this 'game' is set."

The man takes a look down to his right and looks at the two dead bodies, a male and a female, laying naked down on the hard wooden floor; one on top of another, one facing upwards and another facing down. The male body appears to be that of a person who is in his late 50s, his white hair that can be seen from behind can already show his dwindled age. The female body is that of a young woman, approximately in her early twenties. Her short hair is somewhat covering one of her eyes and a strand is in her mouth. Her eyes are blankly staring towards the ceiling which once had emotion but now showed nothing but a reflection, reflecting the images she is supposed to be seeing but is unable to.

The man realizes the pool of blood from the two bodies is starting to reach to his foot so he lifts his foot and places it few steps away from the expanding pool. The woman behind him glances at the dead bodies and turns her head quickly away, closing her eyes to avoid the sight. The man sees her action and comments on it.

"It is very contradictive that you of all people hate this bloodshed even though you caused quite a bit of it within the last few weeks, Kuzuha," the man says snickering.

"It was your orders, master. I cannot refuse the wishes of my master." Kuzuha replies, seeming rather disturbed at his comment. "If I had any choice, I prefer to take a path that has no bloodshed."

"But that won't win us the war!" The man says with authority in his voice, making Kuzuha look down out of fear, "I must win in order to restore my family name!"

"… Yes, I am sorry for speaking out of line, master." Kuzuha speaks with a trembling voice, then bows down. "I beg for your forgiveness…"

The man turns and looks toward her, staring her down. Kuzuha, feeling the gaze, remains still in that position. The man then slaps her across her right cheek, sending her flying, landing on top of the two dead bodies.

"I cannot believe I summoned such a worthless servant like you!" The man says as he walks toward Kuzuha, "I even have to direct you in how to deceive and how to kill! You're worthless!"

The man then stomps on the pool of blood that he had avoided earlier, making the blood splash onto his pants though the majority of the blood lands on Kuzuha's body. The robe had unveiled and the blood has splattered over her kimono that she is wearing under.

Kuzuha, realizing that she had landed on the bodies, quickly tries to rush off of them, making her trip over the bodies and land face to face with the female's face. Kuzuha, in horror, uses her hand to support herself up to onto her knees and backs away slowly, staring at the face with vacant eyes looking back at her. She finally backs onto something hard, she looks up to see that it was her master's legs.

"Kyaa!" Kuzuha screams then rushes to her feet to run away but the man has got a hold of her hair. The man pulls at it, making her body jerk backwards and onto her back. He then pulls on the hair, forcing her to stand from the pain until she is in eye level with him. She closes her eyes and looks away trying to avert eye contact with him however he gets ahold of her throat and, out of shock, made her open her eyes, making her eyes meet his. "N-no… Please, master… I-I don't want to do that again…!"

"Well, it looks like you have no choice at this current time don't you?" The man says in a tone of boredom and continues to stare into her eyes, his dark brown eyes reflect from Kuzuha's soft brown eyes, now tearing up from fear. He then gets closer to her ear and whispers, "You are too kind for your own good."

The man then pulls her head back, then, using his free hand pulls out a red gem-like item that is linked in a golden chain. Inside the gen holds a cat eye-like object floating around. The man then brings it close to Kuzuha's face. The eye-like object then centers itself and stares straight into her eyes, then, out of nowhere, she loses consciousness. The man then let go of her hair, letting her fall down onto the ground, where the pool of blood awaited her fall. With a small 'splash' sound, she lands onto the pool of blood.

After a few seconds of silence, Kuzuha slowly gets up and struggles to her feet. She is fully covered in blood, just looking down at her feet, at the pool of blood. She then suddenly starts laughing.

"Ha… Haha…. Hahahahahahaha!" Kuzuha laughs out loud in something close to a hysteria, "Finally… finally I have a body again!"

Kuzuha then looks up toward the man, revealing two blood-red eyes. She has a wide grin on her face.

"Ahh… Keiza. It has been ages!" Kuzuha says then tilts her head, still with the wide grin on her face.

"It has only been a day… no… better yet a few hours," Keiza says, then puts the red gem necklace-like jewelry back into his pocket.

"Whatever! If you called me out again, you must want something dead I'm guessing?" Kuzuha asks then takes her hand and wipes the blood that is on her face with her right hand. "It'd better be a challenge this time! Last time, he was too easy!"

Upon saying this, Kuzuha licks her palm, tasting the blood off of it. She then uses the back of her hands to wipe the drool off her mouth.

"I do not know his ability however we can expect some challenge… " Keiza adds, "We must figure out what they are here for, so we cannot make any moves until then."

Upon hearing this, Kuzuha lets out a long depressing sigh, "You and your planning… It takes forever to even get to the fun stuff…" Kuzuha then stretches up, with her hands up above her, "I sacrifice my body so I can become a personal assassin for you but it is even more dull than I imagined!"

"Patience is key, do you understand this?" says Keiza in a non-changing deep voice.

"Hehehe… Yeah I know, I know, whatever!" Kuzuha says in a low tone in a manner as if she did not even care about what he has just said, waving the conversation off with her hand. "So if I was to participate in this war, I would be considered a Saber class? Hehehe."

"You're an assassin more so than anything, but you may classify yourself the way you wish." Keiza replies with a manner of disinterest.

"Well that works too I guess… Hehehe… a caster and assassin class servant, that's what you got yourself… 'MASTER'… Hahahaha!" Kuzuha says then walks over to the window that Keiza was looking through to see a boy and a girl walking toward this church. "Hehehe… everyone is born to be loved, huh? I wonder how much 'love love love' they will know once they're 'dead dead dead'! Hahahahahahahahahaha!" Upon saying this, Kuzuha then squats down and dips her finger in the pool of blood and on the window draws a circle and a dash through it in a diagonal.

"Hope you can entertain me… 'Main Characters' of a storyline that I am about to destroy… Hahahahahahahaha!"


End file.
